October meeting

Service, tea and meeting followed the ringing for the 8 bell trophy.

The bell consultants had been on three inspections. No issues were found at Chapel en le Frith, although permission to ring is not currently being granted. No faults were found at Chesterfield to explain the unpredictability of the ninth & tenor bells - perhaps the nylon bushes were expanding with humidity? A crack in the stone work had caused the new architect concern at Darley Dale. Perhaps this was caused by the bells ringing? The was no frame movement noted when the bells rung. The crack may have been there for a long while (100 years?) and only spotted following the installation of new lights...

During the meeting, there were six nominations for the four Central Council representative posts. As a result of ballot, Emma Humphrey joins three existing reps. We thank John Cater for his work on the Council over the years.

We had three new members join the Association. Also, Brian Tomlinson was presented with a gift for the many hours work had has completed for the Bell Repair Fund since 1974. Brian then read out a letter from our patron, the Bishop of Derby, thanking him for his sterling work.

Pat Halls presenting Brian Tomlinson with his gift

Don Jones told us how the Gordon Halls Ringing Centre had won a Derbyshire Excellence in the Community Award, with a buffet to celebrate this later in the month.

8 bell Striking Competition Results

Len Mitchell

Here are the results of the 8 bell competition held today at Stanton by Dale. The judge was Len Mitchell from Liverpool.

Position	Team	Method	%age	Rang
1	Peak	Triples	91%	4th
2	Southern John	S Major	88%	1st
3	Chesterfield	Triples	87%	2nd
4	Southern Alec	Triples	71%	3rd

Len Mitchell presenting the trophy to Richard Taylor

100th anniversary peal at Ilkeston

The bells (& tower) of Ilkeston were dedicated during 1910, recast by John Taylor & Co. Below is an extract from the Bell News (24th  December 1910). Click to enlarge.

There were 5 peals on the old bells - the first peal of Major was Bristol in 1908, which was only the 17th peal of Bristol ever rung and the second in Derbyshire (there was a peal at Ashover 2 days before!). This was rung by a touring party with the famous William Pye on the tenor. Further history of the bells can be read in 'The Church Bells of Derbyshire by Pat Halls and George Dawson.

196 peals later saw a peal of Bristol marking the 100th anniversary. Seven Derby DA members were joined by Ian Campbell (from St Pauls Cathedral, London) to ring a peal in 2 hours 56 minutes (eight minutes quicker than the 1908 peal!). Richard Stevenson and Ian Campbell learnt to ring together, but this was their first peal together.

The Band, left - right: front row  bells 1 - 4, back row bells 5 - 8.

Derby Diocesan Association

Ilkeston, Derbys, St. Mary V

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 in 2h56 (17)

5088 Bristol S. Major

Composed: DF Morrison no. 62

1   Richard M Stevenson
2   Anthony P Cotton
3   John V Chadwick
4   Robert J Marchbank
5   Alec Humphrey
6   F Gordon Faulks
7   Simon Humphrey (C)
8   Ian G Campbell

For the 100th anniversary of the re-casting and re-hanging of the bells, and to compliment Michael and Laura Stevenson on the birth of their son Harry Michael.

Website saves the day!

A while ago, I had a suggestion to put information on the website for wedding arrangers looking for ringers. This has been used a few times before, and helped save the day last week, when a mix up meant that no bell ringers were booked for a wedding over the border in Nottinghamshire! Anne Westman takes up the story:

Thursday afternoon saw a phone call from a lady in Mansfield who had come across my phone number via another ringers from the DDA website. Her friend was getting married on the Saturday at Cuckney near Mansfield and the local ringers were not able to raise a band, but she was desperate to get some ringers for the wedding - could I help? To cut a long story short, many, many phone calls later I managed to find 6 ringers to be at the church for 12.30.  Ringing for the wedding was uneventful, we just rang rounds and call changes to ensure good striking throughout. The groom's father popped into the ringing chamber before and after the wedding to say 'thank you', we also got a 'thank you' from the vicar during the service and afterwards and from the churchwarden. It made such a pleasant change to be thanked for wedding ringing! Fortunately the showers stopped and allowed the bridal party to enjoy sunshine and bells whilst the photos were being taken!

Pictures below show Christian Yeomans and Simon Westman, with Matthew Yeomans and Alison West and the church.

Strike Notes 85

Strike Notes 85 has been published on the website...

 Contents

p1 DDA Annual General Mtg

p2 The Royal Maundy

p3 Southern District Quiz

p3 Central Council Visit

p4 Central District Practice

p6 Aunt Sally

p7 Striking Competition Results

p8 Forthcoming Events

2010 12 bell competition

The 35th 12 bell competition saw 9 teams travelling down to Crediton in Exeter. Coming 2nd in their eliminator, Melbourne had high hopes of doing well. Some of the team travelled down the day before, whilst three cars left their homes between 4.30am & 5.15am to avoid the dreaded M5 car park. We need not have worried - the motorway was clear & those travelling on the day arrived to an empty car park by 8.20am.

Bacon butties started off the days refreshments in the Boniface Centre next to the church. This was the location for one bar, whilst the second bar was outside in the lower rectory garden. The rumour was that they had 77 barrels of beer, so hoped not to run dry!

Melbourne had a good draw at 11am - ringing third, in between Cambridge & Leeds.

This year was different from others in that none of the bands had been allowed to practice at the host tower. The four judges (chief judge Maggie Whiteley with Chris Kippin, Paul Mounsey and Claire Roulstone) had a sound feed from the tower which was turned off for the 15 minute practice and then turned on again when the signal was given.

After ringing, we ate lunch and found our campsite nearby to put up our tent. We could just hear Exeter ringing!

The results followed Evensong, for which the church was packed.

Results:

	Team	Rang	Peal speed	Mark
1st	Birmingham	8th	3h29	88%
2nd	Society of Royal Cumberland Youths	9th	3h42	84%
3rd	Ancient Society of College Youths	5th	3h31	79%
4th	York	1st	3h25	78%
5th	Exeter	6th	3h30	77%
6th	Melbourne	3rd	3h19	74%
7th	St Martin-in-the-Fields	7th	3h53	68%
8th	Cambridge	2nd	3h31	67%
9th	Leeds	4th	3h15	60%

Not a bad result for Melbourne, a tad on the brisk side, but the judges said our ringing sparkled! Only seven teams have ever won the competition (out of the 61 teams that have entered over the years). The top four teams had all won before (16, 3, 4 and 2 times respectively), then the local band, then us!

It was then off to the bar to find some refreshment (I think one bar ran out of beer!), then to Weatherspoons with some of the band for a meal, before making our way to the campsite which was also home to some of the Cambridge band. More refreshment followed from their barrel, whilst the children were put to bed, before the cold summer night also drove us to our beds.

Sunday saw games of football & top trumps whilst the tents were taken down and we made our way home.

More information on the 12 bell website.

Latest bell consultant reports

The latest bell consultant reports have been put on the website. These are very detailed reports and are worth every penny (the only cost is for the Association to pay expenses!).

Clay Cross
Cubley
Darley Abbey
Hope
North Wingfield
Old Brampton
Scropton
Staveley (2 reports)

Horsley Cup & Arthur Ashby results

I've just discovered the results of the 6 bell striking competitions in May - here they are: 

The Horsley results were:

1st Cathedral 243

2nd Old Whittington 236

3rd Darley Dale 233

4th Tideswell 221

5th Mugginton 206

Judges Andrew Wignell and John Cook

The Arthur Ashby results were:

1st Etwall 229.5

2nd Ashford in the Water 223.75

3rd Overseal 208.25

4th Bakewell 205

5th Old Brampton 200.25

Judges Jim and Janet Crabtree

Well done to everyone who took part.

Here is the Cathedral team - (L>R: Elizabeth Heaton, Pam Timms, Pat Halls, Rachael Peckham, Christian Peckham, John Heaton).

Strike Notes 84...

The new version is out, worth a read even if your outside the Central & Southern Districts -

Contents
p1 Central District ADM
p2 Southern District ADM
p3 Webb Ivory
p3 What's it all about?
p4 A Presentation
p6 Aunt Sally
p7 Striking competition results
p8 Forthcoming Events

Melbourne in the 12 bell final!

Melbourne came 2nd in the 12 bell eliminator at St Magnus the Martyr. They join ASCY, Birmingham, Cambridge, Exeter, Leeds, St Martin-in-the-Fields, SRCY and York who qualify for this year's final at Crediton on 26th June.

Maundy Thursday

Dear All

 

I have had a letter from Sir Henry Every (the High Sheriff) via Bishop Alastair.

 

Sir Henry asks whether we could be encouraged to ring the bells on Thursday 1st April at about 12.45.  The Queen is distributing the 'Royal Maundy' at the Cathedral.  The service is due to start at 11 am and we think the Queen will be leaving the Cathedral at about 12.45.  This year's service will also be the 800th Maundy service.

 

I realise that traditionally we do not generally ring during Holy Week but as the Bishop has endorsed this request I hope it will be possible to obtain permission from incumbents.

 

May be if you ring a quarter peal or peal you could add a footnote 'Rung to celebrate the Royal Maundy at Derby Cathedral.  If you do any special ringing including call changes could you let me have the details and I will forward them to Sir Henry and the Bishop.

 

Thank you

 

Jane Boden

General Secretary  

Annual Dinner menu

A reminder about the Annual Dinner: Saturday 20th March at the New Bath Hotel, Matlock Bath

Tickets £26

Guest speaker Michael Uphill from London

Menu

Broccoli and smoked cheddar soup with red pesto

Roast topside of beef with peppercorn and garden herb sauce, bolongere potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

Vegetarian option (chef's choice) where requested

Apple crumble with custard or cream

Fresh filter coffee and mints

Tickets from District Secretaries, General Secretary.